Chaparral Motorsports Drives More Business from Facebook with Site Search Integration

SAN JOSE, CA – October 10, 2011 – SLI Systems today announced that Chaparral Motorsports has doubled the average order size and increased revenue on orders stemming from Facebook, thanks to a recent integration of its e-commerce site search with its Facebook company page. With help from the full-service site search provider, Chaparral Motorsports recently implemented SLI’s hosted Learning Search on its Facebook fan page, allowing customers to search and purchase products directly from the popular social network.

Based in San Bernardino, California, Chaparral Motorsports is an online retailer of motorcycle gear, apparel, parts, and accessories for dirt and street bikes, and also has a retail storefront at its corporate headquarters location. The company began using SLI’s hosted site search for its e-commerce site about 18 months ago.

“Because of Learning Search’s ability to improve relevance of results and drive more sales, we decided to add the SLI-powered search capability to our Facebook page and capture a growing base of loyal customers on that platform,” said Crystal Ashby, vice president of marketing for Chaparral Motorsports.

Since adding SLI site search to its Facebook fan page, the number of orders generated through searches on Facebook has increased, the average order value of purchases from Facebook has doubled, and revenue from Facebook has risen by 26%.

“Judging from the increased order size and revenue coming from Facebook searches, we can see that the capability is encouraging our Facebook fans to search our product catalog and complete purchases without ever leaving the social network – which makes it really easy for them,” said Ashby.

The “Search for Parts” link appears in the left-hand navigation column of the company’s Facebook page. Chaparral Motorsports customers remain on the Facebook page while searching – once they click through to a product, they are taken to the company’s online storefront in a separate browser window, where they can complete a sale. The company will soon allow Facebook fans to “like” and share search results, providing another way for Chaparral Motorsports to extend the reach of its product catalogue to new customers.

“Facebook is fast becoming a one-stop destination for everything online – people who love Facebook expect to do everything from keeping up with friends to shopping for their favorite brands,” said Shaun Ryan, CEO of SLI Systems. “Online businesses that add search to their Facebook pages can capture revenue and increase conversions from their Facebook fan base.”

Learning Search is part of SLI Systems’ full-service, customized site search, navigation and merchandising offerings. The solutions help online retailers like Chaparral Motorsports meet customer expectations for relevant results and information, and also promote particular products and brands, all based on previous visitors’ search and click-through activity. The solutions are dynamic, so results change as customer buying trends and search terms shift. Additionally, SLI’s offerings are backed by the company’s team of search and navigation experts, who oversee deployment of Learning Search and provide ongoing management and support.

“The SLI team made it easy for us to bring site search to our Facebook page, as well as improve site search on our website,” Ashby said. “We’ve relied heavily on their expertise in improving the relevancy of our search results, and researching and testing new ways to display results and merchandise products.”

About SLI Systems SLI Systems provides full-service, customized, on-demand solutions for site-search, navigation, merchandising, and user-generated SEO.SLI Systems’ solutions empower businesses to enhance customer satisfaction while increasing sales, reducing costs and increasing site conversions. Unlike traditional search and merchandising software, SLI Systems’ patented technology continuously “learns” from the behavior of visitors over time to deliver more relevant results. SLI Systems is a privately held company with offices in San Jose, California; London; New Zealand and Australia. For more information, visit http://www.sli-systems.com/, or read the company’s blog at http://blog.sli-systems.com/, watch the SLI YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/SLISiteSearch, follow SLI on Twitter at http://twitter.com/slisystems or listen to SLI hosted ecommerce podcasts at http://www.ecommercepodcast.com/.